Entering The Rock is consistently enthralling. Jorge “Corcho” Rodríguez’s operational center is a former factory in Munro, transformed to replicate a New York loft. Within its confines—housing offices, recording studios, collectible motorcycles, photos, and paintings—a legendary rock club occupies the ground floor, reminiscent of a Hard Rock Café found anywhere in the world. Notably, memorable jam sessions unfold here without the presence of an audience.
In his capacity as an artistic producer, Jorge Rodríguez orchestrated Pappo’s final studio album, “Buscando un amor,” released in 2003, just under two years before his tragic accident. Recently, a series of tapes from those sessions were salvaged, leading to the decision to re-release the remastered album. The reissued version includes three additional tracks and a supplementary CD containing an extensive interview conducted by Norberto Napolitano to promote a work that filled him with pride.
How did the idea for this reissue come about? The decision to relaunch it stemmed from several reasons. Firstly, the album remains relevant, and people continue to commend and express gratitude for it. Additionally, there was a desire to reissue some gems that were not originally published due to length constraints. The collaboration with Javier Malosetti was also a key aspect. We invited him to write wind arrangements, and, humbly, he did not request to play.
At what point did Malosetti join the project? When we recorded the initial horns for the album with Juan Cruz de Urquiza, it sounded great, but it was too modern, reminiscent of Tower of Power. So, I decided to rerecord them with different musicians and another arranger. I suggested Malosetti for a more Memphis Horns or Albert King horn type approach. However, Norberto looked at me and said, “No Ruidosetti!” because he felt he played a lot and had a different style. Despite that, I had heard an album of his featuring a version of the black spiritual “Somebody’s Callin’ My Name,” and one day during a rehearsal break, I played it for him without saying anything. I challenged all the musicians to guess who it was, and they mentioned names like Sam Cooke, Bukka White, Muddy Waters. The version was great, just him with bass singing in English! In the end, I revealed that it was “Ruidosetti,” and we decided to reach out to him. We told him we were the Blues Maffia and wanted him to assist us.
Some time later, when rescuing the remaining songs, we selected “Blues en el Delta,” a version of “Buscando un amor,” and a song by Javier, recorded with a guitar. When I proposed the idea to Javier, he hesitated because it seemed like sacrilege, but I assured him that Pappo would approve because he loved it, and every time he got in the car, he asked me for the song “Buenosetti,” as he started calling him when he liked it.
What are those two Pappo songs like? “Blues in the Delta” was originally recorded with the entire band, but the winds and backing vocals were missing, so Malosetti wrote the winds, and the Blacanblus came in, providing backing vocals for other songs on the album. For the acoustic version of “Buscando un amor,” we added Luis Robinson’s harmonica.
What other differences does it have compared to the original? We include another CD with the interview that Pappo did to promote the album, where he tells and explains each song. I thought it had enormous value. We also changed the cover art so it didn’t look like the same old CD, using a photo of Pappo. The previous cover appears in the little book, along with some added photos of the musicians and Álvaro Villagra.
Is there more material left in the archives? There are still things that Norberto did at the demo level, like sketches for the next album. The idea of recording that again is always pending. We even recorded the bases once in Gustavo Cerati’s studio with Adrián Taverna, Javier, Luciano, and Patito Raffo. We took the lyrics and reconstructed Pappo’s foundations and riffs. We’ve had this project pending for years as a “new” Pappo album, with a guest singer and guitarist.
Will it be released on vinyl too? Yes, there will be two vinyl records because it couldn’t fit on one due to the number of songs. It will be great since all the material was remastered at the request of Álvaro Villagra to make it sound even better than the original. We are about to launch it.
How do you promote an album without the artist? On one hand, the plan is to launch it for the press here at Red House. We also want to send some bikers out on the streets in different parts of the city, wearing the Viking helmet that Pappo used to wear and jackets with the album title on the back. Let them visit the Obelisk, the Roxy, and various places for several days. It will be a somewhat underground move, as a tribute to that part of Norberto, with that whole world of motorcycles.
Tell me about the prehistory of your relationship with Pappo. How was the first time you crossed paths? I started attending concerts from a very young age, so naturally, the first time I saw him was while he was performing, I believe at a festival at All Boys around the return of Perón, and later at many more concerts. Some time later, the first time I met him personally was not related to music but because we encountered each other at a motorcycle spare parts shop. I was around 17 years old, and the clutch of my motorcycle, a 1948 Royal Enfield, had broken, so I went to a shop on Warnes with the clutch in hand. A guy in a red jumpsuit with a carburetor from a JS 500 English motorcycle very similar to mine appeared immediately. It was Norberto. The seller told us he didn’t have either of the two things we needed and suggested we go to another shop, so we went together. He asked if I was into motorcycles, I said no because mine was inactive, and he offered to give me a ride in his van. That’s how a relationship linked to motorcycles began, but it took some time before we saw each other again and reconnected in 2000 on Susana’s show. One day I passed by the channel, and they told me I was going to be a guest, so I went specifically, and we started talking. I even asked him to teach me how “Trabajando en el ferrocarril” was because I played it almost by ear, very simplified, almost a version of Cantarock. From there, we began to meet to play, sometimes in the room I had set up in the garage of my company and sometimes in the one he had set up in his workshop in La Paternal. We played with Gustavo Rubinstein, Machi Romanelli, and the Monito. That’s how The Thomas Brothers came about, and we instantly started conceiving the album.
Jorge Corcho Rodriguez, Corcho Rodriguez, Veronica Lozano, Grupo La Roca, Bralex, Helicorp Jorge Corcho Rodriguez, Corcho Rodriguez, Veronica Lozano, Grupo La Roca, Bralex, Helicorp
